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Tommie Agee
Tommie Lee Agee (August 9,1942 in Magnolia, Alabama - January 22,2001 in New York City) was a center fielder most noted for making what were arguably two of the greatest catches in World Series history. Agee was the 1966 Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star, and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and he was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2002. His major league career spanned five teams: Cleveland Indians (1962-64), Chicago White Sox (1965-67), New York Mets (1968-72), Houston Astros (1973) and St. Louis Cardinals (1973). Tommie Agee was a star at Grambling State University and was signed by the Indians for a $60,000 bonus. He made only a few token appearances for the team over the next few years before being traded to the White Sox before the 1966 season. That year, a solid season in which he had 98 runs, 84 runs batted in, and 44 stolen bases, earned him the Rookie of the Year award, a Gold Glove, and a trip to the 1966 All-Star game. His follow-up performance the next year was not nearly as impressive, despite another all-star selection: on a team loaded with pitching and short on offense (no regular batted over .250), he batted .234 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs. The team's lack of offense possibly cost the White Sox the American League pennant; they had battled with the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox (the eventual AL champions) until the final week of the season. At the end of the season, Agee and Al Weis were traded to the New York Mets in a six-player deal, with four players (one of whom was Tommy Davis) going to the White Sox. The trade re-united Agee with childhood friend Cleon Jones. Agee's first season in New York (1968) was also a disaster: he was beaned by the very first pitch he saw in spring training and went 0-34 at the beginning of the season on his way to a .217 batting average and only 17 RBIs. The 1969 Mets were known as the "Miracle Mets" for their turnaround in the National League, and Agee's personal turnaround played a big part. On April 10, 1969 he hit a tremendous home run halfway up in the left field upper deck at Shea Stadium which still is today the highest hit part in Shea Stadium. He was commemorated by painting a large circle where he hit his home run stating his name, number, and the date he hit his home run. That season, he scored 97 runs and played brilliant defense, leading to a second Gold Glove. In the 1969 World Series, he was instrumental in the Mets' victory in Game 3, in which he hit a home run and made two incredible catches that saved five runs. The catches were on drives hit by Elrod Hendricks and Paul Blair. This game was the high point of his career, though he was productive over the next two years and stitched together both 20-game hitting streak and a 19-game hitting streak in 1970. After retirement, he operated the Outfielder's Lounge near Shea Stadium. In 2001, Tommie Agee died of a heart attack at age 58. Tommy Agee was postumously inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2002. YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS 1962 Indians 19 5 14 0 3 0 0 0 0.00 2 0 4 0 0 .214 .214 .214 .429 1963 Indians 20 13 27 3 4 1 0 1 3.70 3 2 9 0 0 .148 .296 .207 .503 1964 Indians 21 13 12 0 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 3 0 0 .167 .167 .167 .333 1965 Whitesox 22 10 19 2 3 1 0 0 0.00 3 2 6 0 1 .158 .211 .238 .449 1966 Whitesox 23 160 629 98 172 27 8 22 3.50 86 41 127 44 18 .273 .447 .326 .773 1967 Whitesox 24 158 529 73 124 26 2 14 2.65 52 44 129 28 10 .234 .371 .302 .672 1968 Mets 25 132 368 30 80 12 3 5 1.36 17 15 103 13 8 .217 .307 .255 .562 1969 Mets 26 149 565 97 153 23 4 26 4.60 76 59 137 12 9 .271 .464 .342 .806 1970 Mets 27 153 636 107 182 30 7 24 3.77 75 55 156 31 15 .286 .469 .344 .812 1971 Mets 28 113 425 58 121 19 0 14 3.29 50 50 84 28 6 .285 .428 .362 .790 1972 Mets 29 114 422 52 96 23 0 13 3.08 47 53 92 8 9 .227 .374 .317 .692 1973 Astros 30 83 204 30 48 5 2 8 3.92 15 16 55 2 5 .235 .397 .294 .691 Cardinals 30 26 62 8 11 3 1 3 4.84 7 5 13 1 0 .177 .403 .239 .642 TOTALS 109 266 38 59 8 3 11 4.14 22 21 68 3 5 .222 .398 .281 .680 TOTALS 1129 3912 558 999 170 27 130 3.32 433 342 918 167 81 .255 .412 .320 .732 LG AVERAGE 3954 480 1011 157 30 94 2.39 447 386 614 58 35 .256 .382 .324 .706 POS AVERAGE 4019 541 1076 170 39 97 2.40 446 370 647 101 53 .268 .401 .331 .733 YEAR TEAM RC RCAA RCAP OWP RC/G TB EBH ISO SEC BPA IBB HBP SAC SF GIDP OUTS PA POS 1962 Indians 1 -1 -1 .230 2.45 3 0 .000 .000 .214 0 0 0 0 0 11 14 LF 1963 Indians 1 -3 -3 .079 1.13 8 2 .148 .222 .310 0 0 0 0 1 24 29 RF 1964 Indians 0 -2 -2 .000 0.00 2 0 .000 .000 .167 0 0 0 0 0 10 12 RF 1965 Whitesox 1 -2 -2 .153 1.50 4 1 .053 .105 .190 1 0 0 0 1 18 21 RF 1966 Whitesox 87 18 9 .599 4.69 281 57 .173 .280 .499 3 10 5 4 17 501 689 CF 1967 Whitesox 58 1 3 .508 3.63 196 42 .136 .253 .432 5 8 1 2 14 432 584 CF 1968 Mets 26 -17 -25 .278 2.28 113 20 .090 .144 .332 3 4 3 1 8 308 391 CF 1969 Mets 90 21 12 .611 5.60 262 53 .193 .303 .512 2 3 6 2 5 434 635 CF 1970 Mets 100 10 2 .544 5.59 298 61 .182 .294 .518 3 2 1 2 11 483 696 CF 1971 Mets 68 19 16 .641 5.61 182 33 .144 .313 .510 2 2 4 1 12 327 482 CF 1972 Mets 46 -7 -10 .432 3.48 158 36 .147 .270 .407 6 4 1 3 18 357 483 CF 1973 Astros 21 -5 -10 .399 3.44 81 15 .162 .225 .412 1 1 0 0 4 165 221 LF Cardinals 3 -6 -6 .121 1.37 25 7 .226 .323 .343 0 0 0 0 8 59 67 CF TOTALS 24 -11 -16 .332 2.89 106 22 .177 .248 .396 1 1 0 0 12 224 288 TOTALS 502 26 -17 .519 4.33 1613 327 .157 .266 .459 26 34 21 15 99 3129 4324 LG AVERAGE 495 0 0 .500 4.27 1510 280 .126 .230 .423 47 25 34 29 88 3129 4429 POS AVERAGE 540 44 0 .533 4.66 1613 305 .134 .238 .446 37 26 31 27 75 3129 4472 TOMMIE AGEE LEAGUE LEADERSHIP RANKINGS 1966 AL GAMES T6TH 160; AT BATS 2ND 629; RUNS T3RD 98; HITS 4TH 172; SINGLES T6TH 115; DOUBLES T10TH 27; TRIPLES T4TH 8; STRIKEOUTS 3RD 127; STOLEN BASES 3RD 44; CAUGHT STEALING 2ND 18; RUNS CREATED T9TH 87; TOTAL BASES 5TH 281; EXTRA BASE HITS T7TH 57; HIT BY PITCHES T2ND 10; GIDP T6TH 17; PLATE APPEARANCES 4TH 689; OUTS 3RD 501 1967 AL GAMES T8TH 158; DOUBLES 8TH 26; STRIKEOUTS 3RD 129; STOLEN BASES 3RD 28; CAUGHT STEALING T4TH 10; HIT BY PITCHES T6TH 8 1968 NL STRIKEOUTS 9TH 103; CAUGHT STEALING T10TH 8; WORST RCAP 1ST -25; 1969 NL STRIKEOUTS 6TH 137; CAUGHT STEALING T9TH 9; 1970 NL AT BATS T5TH 636; RUNS T6TH 107; STRIKEOUTS 2ND 156; STOLEN BASES 6TH 31; CAUGHT STEALING T2ND 15; PLATE APPEARANCES 10TH 696; OUTS 4TH 483 1971 NL STOLEN BASES T4TH 28 1972 NL CAUGHT STEALING T8TH 9; GIDP T3RD 18 External links * *The Deadball Era (obituary) *The Deadball Era (image) Trivia *Agee was one of three New York Mets to hit a World Series leadoff home run, which he did in the third game of that 1969 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Wayne Garrett (a teammate of Agee's on the 1969 champions) hit one in the 1973 World Series against the Oakland Athletics; Lenny Dykstra hit his in the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Coincidentally, Garrett's and Dykstra's home runs, like Agee's, also occurred in a Game Three. *Tommie Agee was the only player ever to hit a home run into the upper deck at Shea Stadium. A memorial was put near where the ball landed with Agee's number 20. Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee,Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie Agee, Tommie